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Tuesday, 17 July 2012

A day of looking at things differently

I can't count the hours I've spent over the years in the University of Leicester's Botanic Garden. It's a favourite place of mine ....and I like to think I know every inch of it , all sixteen acres of lawns, trees, national collections, and glasshouses. Come rain, come shine, I've been there.

But going there for the launch of the annual Sculpture Exhibition has given me the chance to look at the garden with new eyes. It's called "Interesting times".

Before I saw the sculptures though, a glass of icy cold Pimms on a warm Saturday lunchtime accompanied a warm welcome from Bob Burgess, the University Vice Chancellor theme and the curator, Almuth Tebbenhoff. Almuth chose as her theme, the hubris of consumerism in a fragile world .

After lunch, a delicious few hours wandering around, sometimes following a map of where the sculptures lay, sometimes not....

This piece "Carapace" by Eilis O 'Connell was one I spent a long time looking at. Carapace: the hard upper shell of a tortoise or a crustacean...I was really intrigued by this. The shape, the way the light played on the stainless steel and

and the handwoven stainless steel cable. Above all, it was so tactile....

"Open Pillar "is made of fabricated , painted steel by Almuth Tebbenhoff, the only piece of hers in the exhibition....a beautiful location for quite a stunning piece of work....

I came upon This "Man with Potential Selves (111)" by Sean Henry quite by chance..such detail, ,so well executed....and so talked about as others walked along the path. I loved his works

And his other piece Walking Man had an equally arresting impact....

There were a few exhibits in a wild part of the Botanic Garden from Paul Tecklenberg and Mikey Georgeson, which attracted alot of interest...lots of visitors bending down, knees bent, bottoms up to see inside the birdboxes. "Avian Intelligence " displays photographic prints in what look like bird boxes.Intriguing.....

I didn't photograph every piece of sculpture ....I want you to go and see all the exhibits for yourself. Sixteen sculptors have been brought together by Almuth.....Nick Turvey, David Worthington, Sean Henry, Ann Christopher, Katherine Gili, Mary Bourne,Halimi Cassell, Ann Christopher, Simon Hitchens,Brigitte Jrack, ALena Matejaka, Atsuo Okamoto, Keith Rand, Richard Trupp, William Tucker and David Worthington..
The 2012 Sculpture in the Garden exhibition is open from 1 July to 28 October at the Btoanic Garden. It's open seven days a week and free to visit except on special event days. Do try and visit.....

More about the Botanic Garden in another post....but in the meantime, some music from Skalpel....called "Sculpture".....dreamy, atmospheric....just like my afternoon at the sculpture exhibition.....

2 comments:

I just stumbled upon your Blog today. Much enjoyed the sculptures and your tour. Here on the shores of Lake Michigan in USA, the gardens have a number of sculptures. They add a special dimension to the space, and can be a focal point while not overwhelming the garden room. The lake is seen in many of the photos I post, and for me, it is the ultimate backdrop and everything, including the eight sculptures here become secondary to it. Did enjoy your work today. Jack